Rolling shutter or blind



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. A. OHL. ROLLING SHUT'IER OR BLIND.

I *W l digg/@2220K .I will No Model.) 2 Sheets-:Sheet 2.

G. A. OHL.

ROLLING SHUTTLE 0L BLIND.

No. 433,694. Patented Aug. 5, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEoEeE A.\oHL, or NEWARK, NEw JEEsEY.

ROLLING SHUTTER oR BLIND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,694,v dated August 5, 1890.

Application iiled September 18,1889. Serial No. 324,353. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. OHL, a citizen of the United States, residing' at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rolling Shutters or Blinds, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to furnish corrugated rolling shutters 0r blinds with a convenient means for opening and closing Ventilating-apertures, with means for reducing the wear and friction upon the corrugated sheet metal Where it slides into guides, and in means for locking the same, when closed, from the exterior of the building. In such blinds corrugated sheet-steel is commonly used, and guides are provided at the opposite edges of the blinds adapted to lit snugly against the ridges of the corrugations, and as such ridges rub against the inside of the guides they are liable to be worn and to become rusty and stick fast.

In my invention the guides at the edges of the blinds are made to embrace the edges of the blinds, but are provided with space enough to wholly clear the ridges upon their edges, and the latter are provided with anti-friction rolls to prevent their touching the guides and to cause them to move more freely up and down Within the same.

My improvement in the Ventilating devices consists in rez-enforcing the flexible metal of the blinds with a rigid plate at the bottom provided with apertures, over which a perforated sliding plate is fitted, to close the apertures when the ventilation is not desired, as when cold drafts or snow blow through the same in the winter.

I-Ieretofore bolts have been applied to the inner sides of such blinds, so that they could be fastened only from the inside; and my iinprovement consists in attaching the bolts to the rigid plate upon the bottom of the blind and actuating the bolts by a handle upon the outside of the blind, the handle being adapted to move the bolts, and to apply a padlock from the outside of the building to secure the same.

In the annexed drawings, Figure lis an inside vieW of a casing containing ablind closed and locked. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same in My invention is particularly adapted for the shutters of markets and public places, which it is desired to throw entirely open in the day-time, and the drawings represent a construction adapted for such location.

A are the posts, between which a blind B is shown, suspended from pulleys C bya shaft D. In practice such a shaftwould be mounted in suitable bearings, (represented by thebosses E,) and with a spiral spring to counterbalance the weight of the shutter, so as to Wind up the same when lifted by hand; but no spring is shown, as the means of rolling up the shutter forms no part of mypresent invention. The means for raising the blind or shutter is in such cases substantially the same as the spring shade-roller commonly employed upon Window-shades, and the shaft D and pulleys C will, for convenience, be regarded as a single element herein, and termed a drinn f are guides formed with a groove to receive the edges of the corrugated sheet metal forming the shutter.

Studs sareshown riveted between the ridges of the corrugations adjacent to the edges of the blind at intervals and provided with rolls s', adapted to t inside the guides f, the rolls being proportioned to project slightly above the ridges upon the sheet metal, and thus hold the ridges of the sheet metal in the center ot l, the grooved guide to prevent rubbing and wear. The edges of the shutter may thus be inclosed in the guides in the usual manner, while they are prevented from rubbing against the same.

The rollsare shown arranged in airs in` the hollows between the ridges adjacent to one'another upon opposite sides of the blind at the same edge, and thus hold the blind more rigidly in the center of the groove than IOC if they were farther separated. By the use i of the rolls the blinds may be moved up and down with less resistance arising from fric tion, and the wear resulting from the contact of the ridges upon the sheet metal with the inner sides of the guides is also avoided.

gis a rigid plate of metal riveted to the bottom of the flexible metal of the blind and provided with a series of holes h, covered by wire-netting t upon their inner side.

j is a slide secured to the plate g by means of bolts Z, fitted in slots m, Vand is provided with a series of holes 7c, adapted to register with the holes h when the slide is suitably moved. The slide is shownA in Fig. l moved to close the holes h, thus excluding the air when desired. When the ventilation is required, the slide would be moved (as to the.

left hand in Fig. l) until the holes lo coincide with the holes h, when' the passage would per- Vmit the entrance of the air, as desired. Bolts sition, as shown in Fig. l, which representsthe inner side of the shutter. A shaft p is projected through the plate g, and is provided at its inner end with a double crank p', attached to the boltsby links q, andthe shaft is provided upon the outer side of the shutter with a handle p2, having a hole r in its end. A staple or eye 7" is shown fixed upon the sill adjacent to the handle 4' in a position to coincide with the hole r when the handle is turned, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, to lock the bolts, and a padlock may then be inserted through the holes in the handle and eye, as shown in Fig. 3, to hold the same locked. By connecting the bolts with an actuating-shaft extended to the outside of the blind the bolts may be moved after the blinds are closed. The blindsmay also, by the use of the padlock, be secured from the outside after closing the same, and an inspector can readily perceive from the outside of the building whether all the blinds have been bolted or locked. i

Heretofore it has been common to provide the rolling blinds of markets and similar buildings with bolts which could be operated only from the inside, and an inspection of the outside would not, therefore, show whether the blinds had beenproperlyloeked, :nor could any one lock the blinds after leaving the building. By my improvement the position of the handle p2 outside of the blind would indicate plainly whether the blind had been locked or not, and if they had not an operator from the exterior of the building could move the bolts and lock them, as desired.

It will be understood that the lock referred to in my invention is something more than a mere cateh-like a lock upon a Window-sash or frame-but would be a padlock, as shown in Fig. et, which would require the use of a key to detach it.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a means of fitting the Ventilating-slide movably upon a plate at the bottom of the blind by screws l and slots m; but FigsB and 5 show an alternative construction, in which the plate g is provided with rabbeted strips g', between which the edges of the slide j are fitted and the slide held movably upon the plate, as desired. It will be understood that in Figs. l, 2, and 4 the plate g would be formed merely as aat plate without rabbets, and that the ventilating-slide]` would also be a fiat plate held movably thereon b y screws l, (fitted inthe slots m,) instead of by the rabbeted strips g. (Shown in Figs. 3 and 5.) In either case it will be understood that the rigidy plate g has its ends fitted within the guides, so as to wholly close the apartment when the blind is drawn down, and that the ventilating-slide being located upon the face of the plate is adapted to move back and forth only between the guides. rlh us one end of the Ventilating-plate is shown close to the right-hand guide in Fig. 1, and its lefthand end would be brought into contact with the left-hand guide when the slide is shifted. 1f desired, a handle g2 may be extended through the plate to actuate the Ventilatingslide from the outside of the shut-ter.

Itis obvious that by'notehing the edge of the blind to admit the roll aV single roll adapted to fill the groove in the guide f may be used in place of apair of rolls adjacent to one another upon opposite sides of the blind, to hold the blind from contact with the guide. Such a construction is'shown at s2 in Fig. 5.

1 am aware of United States Patent No. 45,366, dated December 6, 1864, which shows a shutter formed of vertical slats hinged together, and provided with rolls at their top or bottom ends to conduct the slats through a tortuous channel. 1n my construction the rolls perform a wholly different function, as there is no tortuous channel through which my blind is conducted; but the blind is formed of thin corrugated sheet metal instead of slats, and is inserted within its guides so as to wholly close the apartment when the blind is`drawn down. The rolls in my construction must project positively above the ridges of the corrugated metal, to prevent the contact of the ridges with the guides, and thus prevent the friction from wearing out and cutting through the thin sheet metal.

I am also aware of United States Patents No. 327,414, dated September 29, 1885; No. 191,095, dated May 22, 1877; No. 254,752,

IOO

IIO

dated Mai-@h 7, 1882, and No. v318,888, dated March 17, 1885, which show locking devices and ventilators analogous to mine. 1 hereby disclaim all thesaid patents, as my locking device differs from those heretofore used in having the bolts projected under the ends of the guides when locking the blind, and in having the locking-lever p2 upon the exterior of the blind provided with a fixed staple, so that it may be secured by a padlock, if desired.

My Ventilating apparatus differs from others in ynot being attached tolthe blind, but to a rigid plate (auxiliary thereto) which is inserted at its ends into the guides, so as to wholly close the apartment, while the ventilating-slide is only movable back and forth between the guides upon the surface of the plate. Y

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim herein is` 1. The combination, with a corrugated sheet-metal blind and a drum to wind up the same, of vertical grooved guides extended downward from the drum, with the edges of the blind inserted therein, the rigid plate g,

affixed to the bottom of the blind and projected within the guides and provided with a series of Ventilating-holes 7i, and the slide j, provided with the holes 7c, adapted to register with the holes h, when desired, and fitted to move upon the plate g between the guides, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a corrugated sheet-metal blind and a drum to wind up the same, of vertical grooved guides extended downward from the drum, with the edges of the blind inserted therein, the rigid plate g, affixed to the bottom of the blind and projected within the guides and provided with a series of Ventilating-holes h, the perforated slide j, fitted upon the plate between the guides, the bolts n, movable upon the plate and adapted to lock the blind by projection under the bottoms of the guides, the shaft p,

and connections for moving the bolts upon the inside of the blind and having a handle for turning and locking the bolts upon the outside of the blind, the whole arranged and operated substantially as herein set forth.

3. The combination, with a corrugated sheet-metal blind and a drum to wind up the saine, of verticalgrooved guides extended downward from the drum, with the edges of the blind inserted therein, studs secured upon the corrugated sheet metal adjacent to the edges of the blind, and rollers mounted upon the studs and projected above the ridges of the corrugations within the grooved guide to hold the corrugations from contact there- GEORGE A. OHL.

Witnesses:

THos. S. CRANE, FRED. C. FISCHER. 

